It’s said that the first paper honeycomb structures have been made by the Chinese 2000 years ago for ornaments, but no reference for this has been found. Paper honeycombs and the expansion production process have been invented in Halle/Saale in Germany by Hans Heilbrun in 1901 for decorative applications. For decorative applications, the expanded honeycomb production reached a remarkable degree of automation in the first decade of the 20th century. The technique of three process stages is still used today for honeycomb production: expansion, corrugation and moulding. This technique was already developed by 1901 for non-sandwich applications. The first use for industrial honeycomb in sandwich structure was reported in 1915 by the German Hugo Junkers who owned an airplane company.
The widespread use of core materials and honeycomb in composite manufacturing began in the 1970s, when sandwich construction was first widely recognized as important means to provide a stiffer, stronger and lighter alternative to solid laminates. Nomex fiber material was first marketed by DuPont earlier, in 1967, and was then used in order to construct driving suits for race car drivers, as it protects against fire and heat. Nomex paper, the material that is mostly used as advanced composites honeycomb core today, was introduced with great success a bit later.